old ampex stuff isn't wide bandwidth, but it sounds fantastic. usually has a very foward sound-- i suspect putting something through this trannie will make it stand out in the mix. probably wouldn't use it for really deep bass or airy vocals though.

Would you just put it in a box and run stuff through it?

Seth

you very well could...

you could put it on the output of jakob's 1176, or a solid state version of the pultec, or a line amp like the hamptone mic pre-- though it doesn't neccessarily need active circuitry around it.

i use mic pre's alot when i'm mixing-- not for gain, but just getting certain trannies to impose a sound that you just can't eq onto something... many mixers don't always want wide bandwidth for every channel-- that's why ssl's and harrisons (and others) had high and low pass filters per channel.

i had a gates staylevel that i almost never used for compression, the trannies made everything sound HUGE. i'll use other trannies to focus a sound's midrange to bring it to the front of the mix, or give it big top and bottom to sit back further in the mix. and i usually record everything big because you can always give it presence later...

eq first started as just a mid-range boost for movies-- they couldn't get in close to the actors without getting the mic in frame (not very directional mics), so they boosted midrange to "bring the sound in". a little more focused mids are what i find usually work best for vocals-- getting them ceentered without having to turn them up too loud. and you can certainly get that midrange focus/presence with the addition of a particuliar trannie in the signal path.

the transformer revolution has begun!

A designer I know jokes that sooner or later someone's going to bring out a box with just a load of potted transformers in series, and name it a "colour-iser" or something...Maybe it's already in the pipeline.

Justin

my fairchild's signal path-- input jack, UTC A, triad, dbx160, stancor, UTC LS, output jack

:D

Hi JRMINTZ !
I have an old Ampex that has 3 MALMAC transformers on it. It is a mono-block of 130 Watts output. It has four 6550 in a push pull settlement. The output transformer has 1750 Ohms input and 106 Ohms output in a frequency range from 20Hz to 50Khz.
I could not resist to see what was in the box so I opened it. Inside there is a 6 pound single core transformer.
There are still two small drive transformers in the pre-amplification circuit.
I wish someone will have a clue on where to find another core just like that from the same company of course..
Cheers!

I haven't seen either of those guys in many years. That thread is 2004 vintage. I do see Ampex stuff on ebay all the time if you look. Caveat emptor though.